Golden Spikes Award
The Golden Spikes Award is bestowed annually to the best amateur baseball player in the United States. The award, created by USA Baseball and sponsored by the Major League Baseball Players Association, was first presented in 1978. It is given to an amateur player who best exhibits and combines "exceptional on-field ability and exemplary sportsmanship." The award is considered the most prestigious in amateur baseball.
Ten winners of the Golden Spikes Award are members of the National College Baseball Hall of Fame, including Bob Horner, the inaugural winner in 1978. In that same year, he was the first overall MLB draft pick and proceeded to win the Rookie of the Year Award. Seven Golden Spikes Award winners went on to become the first overall draft pick. Only Horner achieved the Rookie of the Year Award in the same year. Jim Abbott, Jered Weaver and Tim Lincecum are the only award winners to pitch a no-hitter, while Horner is the only one to hit four home runs in one game. Furthermore, 17 players won the Dick Howser Trophy alongside the Golden Spikes Award. No player has won the award more than once. Surprisingly, no Golden Spikes recipient has yet been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Since 2014, the winner has been announced during a live broadcast of ESPN's SportsCenter. Immediately following the announcement, the award winner and the other finalists are honored at a banquet in Los Angeles. Although it can be given to any amateur player, the award has always been given to a college baseball player. In addition, only two winners were not attending NCAA Division I institutions when they won the award—junior college players Alex Fernández in 1990 and Bryce Harper in 2010. The most recent recipient of the award is Adley Rutschman of the Oregon State Beavers.
USA Baseball announced on April 15, 2020, that the award would not be conferred that year. The coronavirus pandemic had de facto cancelled the 2020 college baseball season on March 12, with only a third of the season played in southern climates and only a few northern teams beginning their schedule.
Winners
| Year | Links to the article about the corresponding baseball year |
| Player | Name of the player |
| Position | The player's position at the time he won the award |
| School | The player's college when he won the award |
| Italics | Player was the first overall MLB draft pick in the same year |
| ^ | Player won the Rookie of the Year Award |
| § | Player also won the Dick Howser Trophy in the same year |
| Member of the National College Baseball Hall of Fame | |
| Player is active |
| Year | Player | Position | School | Ref |
| ' | 3B | Arizona State | ||
| 3B | Cal State Fullerton | |||
| 1B | Arizona | |||
| OF | Florida State | |||
| SS | New Orleans | |||
| 3B | Alabama | |||
| OF | Arizona State | |||
| 1B | Mississippi State | |||
| P | Florida State | |||
| P | Michigan | |||
| 3B | Oklahoma State | |||
| ' | P | LSU | ||
| P | Miami-Dade Community College | |||
| OF | Arizona State | |||
| ' | 3B | Cal State Fullerton | ||
| P | Wichita State | |||
| C | Georgia Tech | |||
| OF | Cal State Fullerton | |||
| 1B | San Diego State | |||
| OF | Florida State | |||
| ' | 3B | Miami | ||
| P | Baylor | |||
| P | South Carolina | |||
| P | Southern California | |||
| SS | Clemson | |||
| 2B | Southern | |||
| P | Long Beach State | |||
| 3B | Nebraska | |||
| P | Washington | |||
| ' | P | Vanderbilt | ||
| C | Florida State | |||
| ' | P | San Diego State | ||
| ' | C/OF | College of Southern Nevada | ||
| P | UCLA | |||
| C | Florida | |||
| 3B | San Diego | |||
| 1B/P | Kentucky | |||
| OF | Arkansas | |||
| OF | Mercer | |||
| 1B / P | Louisville | |||
| 1B | California | |||
| ' | C | Oregon State | ||
| Not awarded |